Jamis XCT Fit Help

I'm hoping some of you with XCTs can help me out. There are some great deals on 2011's now and I'm wondering if I could manage an XL 21" frame. I'm 6'1.5" with a 33" inseam. The 21" XCT has a top tube length and seat post length similar to my current L 19" bikes. But, I'm wondering if the XL Jamis will still feel larger than my current Larges when riding; despite these similar dimensions.

I'm also concerned about the standover height - it's listed higher than my current bikes at 33"; so with shoes, I'd only have about an inch clearance. Looks like the XCTs have unusually tall top tubes - the 19" frame has a 32" standover. I assume Jamis measures from the center of the tube down; can anyone confirm the standover height from where you'd typically straddle the tube?

Obviously there aren't many Jamis owners on the boards but was hoping someone would chime in.

Can anyone that owns an XCT at least compare the geometry to other bikes owned/ridden? I'm currently on a 19" Specialized FSR fs. Previously rode a 19" Gary Fisher Tassajara hardtail. The 21" XCT seems to have similar dimensions to my 19" Fisher but with an inch higher top tube.

Here is what I know. I had a Jamis Dakar XCT. Started with the 2009 bike, broke that frame, replaced with a 2010, broke two of those, was replaced by a 2011 frame and broke that too. I now have a 2011 Speciliazed Stumpjumper FSR. I'm 6'1" and have a 32" inseam. All frames were/are 19".

Other than breakage my only other complaint about the Jamis XCT was that the stock seat post from the '09 was just a tad short feeling in the '11. I always rode with the seat post at it max height but never over that but felt that I really needed about another 1/8th to 1/4 inch more. I was considering purchasing a longer seat post when I decided it was time to try something else and sold the second 2011 frame. Otherwise the 19" frame felt perfect for my size. I would not have wanted to go to a bigger frame. The SJ Fsr seems to have unlimited seat post. I'm no where near riding the limit on it.

As far as the standover, not sure how they are measuring that. I never had a problem with the 19" frame. Hard to believe that the XL would be high enough to be an issue but who knows.

Xct

Here is what I know. I had a Jamis Dakar XCT. Started with the 2009 bike, broke that frame, replaced with a 2010, broke two of those, was replaced by a 2011 frame and broke that too. I now have a 2011 Speciliazed Stumpjumper FSR. I'm 6'1" and have a 32" inseam. All frames were/are 19".

Other than breakage my only other complaint about the Jamis XCT was that the stock seat post from the '09 was just a tad short feeling in the '11. I always rode with the seat post at it max height but never over that but felt that I really needed about another 1/8th to 1/4 inch more. I was considering purchasing a longer seat post when I decided it was time to try something else and sold the second 2011 frame. Otherwise the 19" frame felt perfect for my size. I would not have wanted to go to a bigger frame. The SJ Fsr seems to have unlimited seat post. I'm no where near riding the limit on it.

As far as the standover, not sure how they are measuring that. I never had a problem with the 19" frame. Hard to believe that the XL would be high enough to be an issue but who knows.

My advice? Go with the 19" but get a longer seat post.

Thanks for the feedback. First off, the frame breakage is a little concerning! What kind of riding do you do?

I'd prefer a 19" too but can only get the 21" on sale. Your experience with the standover makes me feel better; the 21" is one inch taller than the 19" but my inseam is an inch higher than yours so hopefully I'd be OK. My 19" FSR actually has a slightly longer top tube than the 21" XCT so thinking it should feel OK. Would end up replacing the stock 120mm stem with something shorter too.

At that time I weight around 220. I am over 50 so I'm not doing jumps or huge drops. One of the trails I ride a lot has some extensive rock gardens which I hit pretty hard. The '09 and '10 frames I think were know for breaking. The '11 and '12 models are redesigned and I don't hear near as much about broken frames anymore. Maybe I was that unlucky guy with my '11. Jamis has been terrific on their warranty process. It was very easy and except for one instance I had a replacement frame to my LBS very quickly. But with the history I was having it was time for me to move on, partly brought on by not having it for a vacation in NH and VT. I miss that slacker head tube angle on the downhills but I really climb much better on the SJ fsr.

Thanks for the links. Just read through them....yeah, looks like frame issues have been common but hopefully mostly resolved with the 2011-12 frames. At least Jamis seems to be pretty good about customer service, I guess.

It's always a tough go when you can't test ride first. Top Tube length may be the same but since your seat sits above that the seat tube angle comes into play. If the XL feels too long you can always change to a shorter stem but you still may not have balance front to rear and you can only do so much with seat adjustment. That was one of my biggest challenges going from the XCT to that SJ. The chain stays seem much longer on the SJ which helps keep my front end planted on steep climbs but plays havoc trying to pop over stuff. In the end I'm lean towards having as little bike as possible under you. The more bike the harder it is to throw the thing around where you need it. You might have a good deal on the XL but it is something I personally would not do, but that's me.

I tend to agree about leaning to smaller when not sure. And I'd definitely replace the stock stem with something shorter. My FSR had like a 120mm stem which I replaced with a 90mm to try to improve handling. I ended up feeling a little cramped with the 90mm and had to adjust to riding in a more upright position than I think I'd prefer. So, that makes me hesitant to get a shorter top tube now.

I've tried superimposing an image of my current bike (old 19" FSR) over an image of the XCT to see how they compare (using wheel size as the constant). Aside from the slacker fork angle on the XCT, they appear more similar than I'd have thought.

Did the same thing with my older bike (19" Gary Fisher Tassajara) for the hell of it....much more dramatic differences. Looks like standover height should be pretty close to the same; so that makes me feel better about that question at least.

I'm just a hair under 6'0 and ride an older Jamis model, an XLT 2.0 in 19". I've also have a 19" Dakar Sport and a KHS XCT is sizes M & L (also a 5" trail bike). In my experience, Jamis runs a bit small. My XLT and Dakar feel more like a Medium in the KHS and the large KHS is just at the upper end of my comfort. You're 2" taller than me in torso, but the same in inseam. I think a 21" will be fine for you, but that's only my opinion. The effective top tube is 10mm longer and the center of the BB to the top tube is 1" longer. THe standover is the only area that would be close flat-footed, but most boots add a bit.
Good luck!
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Just thinking...that XCT picture is probably not of a 21" even though I selected it from the site. And no telling what size frame the others are for that matter. So these comparisons are probably worthless. Oh well.

I'm hoping some of you with XCTs can help me out. There are some great deals on 2011's now and I'm wondering if I could manage an XL 21" frame. I'm 6'1.5" with a 33" inseam. The 21" XCT has a top tube length and seat post length similar to my current L 19" bikes. But, I'm wondering if the XL Jamis will still feel larger than my current Larges when riding; despite these similar dimensions.

I'm also concerned about the standover height - it's listed higher than my current bikes at 33"; so with shoes, I'd only have about an inch clearance. Looks like the XCTs have unusually tall top tubes - the 19" frame has a 32" standover. I assume Jamis measures from the center of the tube down; can anyone confirm the standover height from where you'd typically straddle the tube?

Thanks for any thoughts/feedback.

As others have said, they run a little small. I've been working in bike shops since late '82 and have fit thousands of people to mountain bikes. Get the 21" and swap to a shorter stem. The XCT has a pretty slack head angle and will definitely handle better with a short stem. A long stem on a slack bike feels like a pig. Take a look at how the sizing is on the Yeti SB-66. They purposely build them with extra-long toptubes so that they can be run with short stems. Jamis specs those bike with too long of stems.
I'm 5'9" and ride a 19" with a 60mm stem. I wouldn't mind abit more standover, but my riding position and how the bike handles is way more important. Don't get too hung up on what "size" a bike is advertised as. There are some 17" bikes that would fit me like my 19" Jamis does.

Thanks for the response. I actually went ahead and placed the order for the XL a few days ago and at the same time ordered a 70mm stem to put on it.

The other bike I've been eyeing is the Yeti 575 which is probably similar in geometry to the sb66...you're right, the Large size Yeti has very similar geometry to the XL Jamis. Only thing that concerned me is the standover. I'm hoping with the slight top tube slope I'll have a couple inches but could probably live with a solid inch.

The bike should be delivered in about a week... I'll post an update once I get it.

I'm 6'6" riding what I believe is a 15". Maybe a 17", idk, I haven't measured (I believe it's a small). I get a lot of looks and everyone tells me I need a bigger bike but I'm pretty comfortable so its all good. Haha

Here is what I know. I had a Jamis Dakar XCT. Started with the 2009 bike, broke that frame, replaced with a 2010, broke two of those, was replaced by a 2011 frame and broke that too. I now have a 2011 Speciliazed Stumpjumper FSR. I'm 6'1" and have a 32" inseam. All frames were/are 19".

Other than breakage my only other complaint about the Jamis XCT was that the stock seat post from the '09 was just a tad short feeling in the '11. I always rode with the seat post at it max height but never over that but felt that I really needed about another 1/8th to 1/4 inch more. I was considering purchasing a longer seat post when I decided it was time to try something else and sold the second 2011 frame. Otherwise the 19" frame felt perfect for my size. I would not have wanted to go to a bigger frame. The SJ Fsr seems to have unlimited seat post. I'm no where near riding the limit on it.

As far as the standover, not sure how they are measuring that. I never had a problem with the 19" frame. Hard to believe that the XL would be high enough to be an issue but who knows.

My advice? Go with the 19" but get a longer seat post.

I have the '11 bike and I can echo the frustration of the seatpost being too short. That being said, I just max it out for long street rides and down 2" for XC.

All in all, I love the bike and would buy it again. No issue of breakage yet.

update

Well, I got the XL sized XCT a couple days ago. Haven't had much time to test ride it...just a quick ride down the street and back so far. But not sure the size will work out for me. The top tube has very little slant (much less than the stock photos which are probably medium size) and I have about 2" standover just in front of the seat. Between the 21" seat tube, high/straight top tube, and big tires, the bike looks huge. I replaced the stock stem with a shorter one and reach is fine for me now but I'm worried about manueverability and the lack of standover. Will test ride again and decide if I want to keep it by this weekend.

Well, I got the XL sized XCT a couple days ago. Haven't had much time to test ride it...just a quick ride down the street and back so far. But not sure the size will work out for me. The top tube has very little slant (much less than the stock photos which are probably medium size) and I have about 2" standover just in front of the seat. Between the 21" seat tube, high/straight top tube, and big tires, the bike looks huge. I replaced the stock stem with a shorter one and reach is fine for me now but I'm worried about manueverability and the lack of standover. Will test ride again and decide if I want to keep it by this weekend.

In practice, the standover issue probably won't be as big a deal as it seems like it will be.
As far as the manuverability concerns, it helps to remember that the XCT has very different geometry than the FSR you were riding before. If it feels like it wanders more on climbs (it probably will), scooting a tiny bit forward and keeping a light touch on the bars should deal with that. Also, remembering to keep looking ahead up the trail rather than looking down right in front of you is very helpful. With cornering what works is to counter steer and lean into it a little more. Those two bikes will have a pretty different feel and that might make it tough to figure out whether or not you really like the XCT with just one real offroad ride. Give it a proper chance and i'd bet that you'll wind up really liking the new bike, especially if your local trails are fast, steep, and/or rocky.

Well, I got the XL sized XCT a couple days ago. Haven't had much time to test ride it...just a quick ride down the street and back so far. But not sure the size will work out for me. The top tube has very little slant (much less than the stock photos which are probably medium size) and I have about 2" standover just in front of the seat. Between the 21" seat tube, high/straight top tube, and big tires, the bike looks huge. I replaced the stock stem with a shorter one and reach is fine for me now but I'm worried about manueverability and the lack of standover. Will test ride again and decide if I want to keep it by this weekend.

In practice, the standover issue probably won't be as big a deal as it seems like it
will be. As far as the manuverability concerns, it helps to remember that the XCT has
very different geometry than the FSR you were riding before. If it feels like it wanders
more on climbs (it probably will), scooting a tiny bit forward and keeping a light touch
on the bars should deal with that. Also, remembering to keep looking ahead up the trail
rather than looking down right in front of you is very helpful. With cornering what works
is to counter steer and lean into it a little more. Those two bikes will have a pretty
different feel and that might make it tough to figure out whether or not you really like
the XCT with just one real offroad ride. Give it a proper chance and i'd bet that you'll
wind up really liking the new bike, especially if your local trails are fast, steep,
and/or rocky.

I've been meaning to post a follow-up. I decided to keep the bike and took it out on the trail last weekend. I think I'll be happy with the decision. It's a better ride in nearly every way from what I've been riding. The biggest adjustment is going to be the inability to lean the bike as much when cornering or at least getting used to the feel of my leg touching against the top tube while leaning. Also the plusher suspension, longer wheelbase, and extra weight make it harder to bunnyhop....not a big deal but something I'll have to work on. I plan to ride some this weekend so should get a better sense of how it handles and any adjustments I need to make.